Carpet stretcher



Oct. 10, H- E RD CARPET STRETCHER Filed March 14. 1932 INVENTOR, 269/72'. (bificara.

ATTORNEYS.

Patented Oct. 10, 1933 Q UNITED srArss PATENT orrics 1,929,837 'CARPETSTRETCHER Harry E. bathcard, Independence, Mo. Application March 14,1932. Serial No. 598,730 7 Claims. .(01. 254 59) This invention relatesto carpet laying appaforces which exert an action against each other.ratus' and specifically to means for stretching a To do this, theextensible carpet engaging assemcarpet or similar floor covering afterit is secured bly-16 is placed near thejedge of carpet 6 that has to thefloor by tacks or fastening elements. not been tacked in place and abrace consisting The primary object of the instant invention is of aplurality of telescoping parts 18 adjusted to 60.

to provide a carpet stretcher having as a part reach from wall 12 toassembly 16, as shown in thereof, a brace that might be utilized ininter- Fig. 1. connecting one wall of the room being carpeted Adjustmenton the part of telescoping parts 18 and an extensible assembly wherebythe entire mightbe secured through the provision of a plu- 19 width orlength of floor covering might be subrality of holes 20 and cross pins22 which pass jected to a stretching action immediately prior throughregistering holes 20 of telescoped memto its being fastened in place. 7bers 18 after the distance between wall 12 and as- A yetfurther objectof this invention is the 'semblyldhas been determined. One end of thisprovision of carpet stretching assembly having a brace should beprovided with a foot 24 of resilient normally stationary body and acarpet-engaging or padded material which will preclude marring at 79head carried by the body and movable relative its point of pressure.This'brace made up of thereto, said body and head being uniquelyintersections 18 must lie along above carpet 6 in a connected forrelative displacement by structure plane parallel thereto and must bestraight and embodying the features of this invention. rigid before itfulfills the prime reason for its use.

20 A still further object of the invention is the After abutting pad 24against baseboardl l of wall T5 contemplation of an extensible carpetlaying and 12, the telescoping member 18 of the brace at the stretchingassembly, wherein is incorporated a other end is secured to assembly 16by bolts or novel head having spurs or like members disposed analogousmeans 26. Thus body 28 of structure in particular arrangement for thepurpose and 16 is held against movement toward wall 12,

function as hereinafter set down. against which the brace is nowabutting. 60

A number of minor objects, including struc- Obviously, carpet 6 has beenpreviously tacked tural features and method of using the device willalong wall 12, as shown at the left in Fig. 1 and appear during thecourse of the following specithe next step in laying the same is tostretch fication, which refers to the accompanying drawcarpet 6 towardwall 12 as at the right in Fig. 1

30 ing, wherein: through the use of structure 16 which is secured 55Figure 1 is a diagrammatical sectional viewagainst movement toward left,wall 12 by the through a room being carpeted through the use brace justdescribed. Assembly 16'is' extensible of a stretcher embodying thefeatures ofthis into the degree that it includes a carpet-engagingvention. head 30 that is associated with body 23 by a pair Fig. 2'is atop plan View on an enlarged scale of guides having a tube 32 and atelescoping rod {73 V of only the extensible carpet engaging assembly.34 rigidly afiixed to body 28 and head 30 respec- Fig. 3 is alongitudinal, vertical section through tively. Attachment may beeffected through any the assembly illustrated in Fig. 2. V ordinarymeans such as fixtures and bolts 36 Fig. 4 is an inverted plan view ofthe same asand 38 respectively, and itis to be seen that such 40sembly'shown in Fig. 2, and, guides permit only rectilinearreciprocation be- 9;;

Fig. 5 is a front, edge elevation. of the carpet tween body and head 28and 30 respectively. engaging head. A force of an appreciable degreemust be used In describing the carpet stretcher, only the prein properlystretching carpet 6, and. such force ferred form will be made clear byreference to may b impar to h 0 y m nually m n p 4 parts making up thesame as it is shown in the laiing the parts provided for that purpose33o drawing and, while the carpet stretcher might be t r ug the mediumOf a handle haViIlg one used in laying floor covering practically anyplace, end thereof secured as at 42 to pinion 4.4. This the same is hereshown in connection with the p io 44 Stands vertically'betlveen a 9 ofplacing of a carpet or floor covering 6 upon floor spaced apart,"vertical, substantially parallel 8 of an ordinary room 10, havingopposite, parwalls 46 having an opening {l8 formed thereiii. allel andvertical side walls 12, near the base of through to permitinterconnecting pinion and which are installed baseboards 14 in theordinary handle 44 and 40 respectively. Pinion 4A floatfashion. It isalways desirable to secure a point ingly rests between walls 46 and isfree to rotate of purchase beyond the edge of carpet 6, whereby whenhandle 40 is brought into play. A sta the same may be stretched withoutsetting up tionary rack 50 is rigidly secured between walls 46 along thetop thereof so that the teeth of rack 50 extend downwardly toward thebase of body 28. Thus rack 50 becomes a spacing element for walls 46along the tops thereof and since handle 40 is bifurcated to straddlewalls 46, the assembly at this particular point should be as narrow aspossible. Such feature is shown clearly in Fi 2.

Between walls 46 and at the bottom thereof is positioned a movable rack52, which is housed between walls 46 and. projects therefrom to engagehead 30 as at 54 and it is between racks 50 and 52 that pinion 44 may beactuated when the teeth of said elements are in mesh.

Since rack 50 is stationary and rack 52 is movable, rack 50 becomes afulcrum about which pinion 44 moves as it forces movable rack 52 alongits path of travel. Small toothed guide rollers 56 may be pivotallysecured between walls 46 in engagement with rack 52 to lend stability toassembly 16. They are free to rotate and do so as rack 52 reciprocatesto move head 30 toward and from body 28. Enormous leverage is possiblethrough an assembly of this character and when carpet 6 has beenstretched the desired amount, it is always desirable to hold theposition attained until the carpet is tacked in place. To do, this, theassembly here described should in, ciude a pawl 58 that is bifurcated topresent a pair of opposed walls 66 which embracewalls 46 and arepivotally engaged thereby through the medium of a bolt or like element62. Pawl 58 is pivotally mounted as shown in Fig. 3 so that it has a jaw64 in the path of travel of the teeth of rack 52. A grip 66 is formed bypawl 58 that extends outwardly to contribute its weight to the rest ofpawl 58 so that the action of gravity will always urge jaw 64 intoposition between the teeth of rack 52. r

Grip 66 not only performs the function just mentioned, but presentsmeans whereby the entire assembly may be grasped when moving the samefrom one position to another. When so grasping the assembly, pawl 58 isimmediately moved to an inoperative position and rack 52,

with head 30, may be quickly moved back to a point of beginning so thatthe carpet stretching operation is greatly facilitated. The position ofhandle 40 and head 30 in both the carpet stretching and nonstretchingposition is shown in Fig. 1.

Head 30 of this assembly 16 is likewise especially formed in that it hasa large number .of spurs 68, all projecting beyond the face of head 30and angled as shown in Fig. 3, whereby to more securely engage carpet 6.

It has been found in practice that the creation of a zone'of greatergripping ability adjacent the ends of head 30 is extremely desirable.Such zones are set up by massing spurs 68 as shown in Fig. 4 so thatthere will be no excessive strain of the carpet at edges of head 36. Thecreation of these zones will move a length of carpet toward wall 12 andmaintain its edge in a position parallel thereto. The depth to whichspurs 68 enter carpet 6 is sometimes altered and suchexpedient ispermitted throughthe use of the plate '70 that is adjustably associatedwith the front edge of head so by slots and bolts 72 and 74respectively. A flange 76 should be'form d along the edge of plate '70to create a smooth supporting face and to present an area great enoughto preclude sinking of the entire head structure into the nap of carpet6. Y

Operation of this carpet stretching assembly has been made clear duringthe course of specification, and while some specific features have beenset down, it is desirous to be limited in the enjoyment of thisinvention only by the spirit thereof and the scope of the appendedclaims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A carpet stretcher comprising an extensible assembly having anormally stationary body; a head movable relative thereto; means formoving said head including a rack on the body, a rack on the head, and apinion in mesh with both of said racks and a pair ofguides connectingthe said body and head comprising a tube mounted on said body and a rodin telescoping engagement with said tube carried by said head.

2. A carpet stretcher comprising an extensible assembly having anormally stationary body; a head movable relative thereto; and means formoving. said head includingv a fixed rack on the body, a rack movablewith said head, a pinion in mesh with both of said racks, and a pair ofguide walls to maintain said pinion in mesh with said racks. i

3. A carpet stretcher comprising an extensible assembly having anormally stationary body; a head movable relative thereto; and means formoving said head including a rack on the body, a rack on the head,apinion in mesh'with both of said racks, and telescoping guidesassociated with both the body and head.

4. A carpet stretcher, comprising an extensible assembly having anormally stationary body; a head movable relative thereto; means formoving said head including a fixed rack on the body, a rack movable withsaid head, a pinion in mesh with both'of said racks; a gravity actuatedpawl for holding said movable rack in position as the same is moved bythe rotation of said pinion; and an idler guide gear in mesh with saidmovable rack, said pawl being pivotally mounted on the axis of saididler gear.

5. A carpet stretcher comprising an extensible assembly havinga-n'ormally stationary body; a head movable relative thereto; means formoving said head comprising'a fixed rack on the body, a rack movablewith said head, and a pinionin mesh with both of said racks; atelescopingguide on each side of said movable rackfand a. pawlassociated with said movable rack to releasably hold the same againstmovement. I I

6. A carpet stretcher comprising a normally stationary body; aheadmovable relative thereto; telescoping, tubular guidesinterconnecting said body and head whereby to permi't rectilinear,reciprocating movement toward and from each other; a pair of upstandingsubstantially parallel, spaced apart walls mounted on said body; a rackalong the upper portion of said walls, there between and securedthereto; a rack movable along between said walls at the lower portionthereof; a pinion between said walls and in mesh with said racks; andmeans mounted on the walls for releasably holding the movable rackagainst movement.

T. In a carpet stretcher, a head; and a plurality of carpet piercingspurs extending below the face of said head, said spurs being arrangedappreciably closer together adjacent the ends of said head whereby tocreate spaced apart zones of greater gripping ability.

HARRY E. CATHCARD.

